In today’s world of technology, where people are much more comfortable using mobile devices, it is crucial to find the best source to provide the most advanced development services. Developers have been successfully using many languages for quite a long time, e.g., Ruby, Python, and PHP. But now another player is in the spotlight – the Elixir programming language, responsible for server-side operations’ high performance and flexibility.
The big question is, why is Elixir so good, and why should companies consider hiring an Elixir consulting company?
What is Elixir?
Elixir is a functional, dynamically typed language for developing scalable and maintainable applications that are built on top of an Erlang virtual machine and compiled into Erlang bytecode.
It was created in 2011 by Jose Valim and has since become one of the essential languages in the Erlang VM ecosystem, focusing on parallelism, reliability, and scalability. It also works well without sacrificing performance, making it ideal for dealing with millions of concurrent users in your application or website.
Advantages of Elixir are:
- Scalability. All Elixir code runs inside lightweight, isolated processes that communicate via messages.
- Parallelism. Elixir can execute multiple operations simultaneously, all of which are managed in real-time without causing adverse effects or slowing down the application.
- Fault tolerance. Elixir provides managers that define how to restart sections of your system, including built-in security procedures that allow the product to continue to function even if something goes wrong.
- Erlang compatibility. Elixir runs on the Erlang virtual machine, giving developers full access to the Erlang ecosystem.
- Functional programming. Functional programming is an approach to coding that encourages developers to create code that is concise, fast, and easy to maintain.
Also, language comes with a set of development tools. The Mix is an example of a tool that, among other things, makes it easy to set up projects, manage tasks, and run tests. It also has its own package manager — Hex.
It would be unfair not to mention Elixir’s disadvantages, so here we go:
- More expensive development cost. Elixir is a relatively new language, and there are fewer developers who know it well. Finding competent Elixir programmers can be not so easy.
- Weaker ecosystem. The Elixir ecosystem is still developing, and you might have difficulty finding the right libraries for some features.
- The importance of knowing Erlang. The best Elixir developers know Erlang well. To create powerful software using Elixir, knowledge of Erlang is crucial. This prerequisite makes it challenging to find competent Elixir programmers.
Although Elixir works well when processing many simultaneous tasks, its performance can degrade when performing large-scale number analysis. However, almost any use case that is not tied to the CPU and is not fundamentally sequential is likely to work for Elixir. Elixir works well for systems with a lot of traffic or I/O-related connections. This also applies to many modern use cases, including chat server parts (such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp), web servers, APIs, online applications, and others.
Is it worth hiring an Elixir developer?
While the most significant programming languages, such as Java, C, C++, PHP, and TypeScript, are the default for app development, it’s also worth considering smaller players, as they can offer features that aren’t widely used languages. However, before hiring an Elixir developer, consider that there is a shortage of developers proficient in the language. Increased demand for these developers in recent years means that teams have to spend more time and resources finding suitable candidates.
Conclusion
So, we have looked at the Elixir programming language, its features, and the applications in which it can be used. It has undoubtedly taken its unique place on the market and has potential.
If you want to use Elixir for your next project, you should consider hiring a developer. Part-time developers often cost less than full-time ones, are involved in many different projects, and can incorporate what they learn into yours. Inviting the dedicated development team to support your needs on the go without wasting time for onboarding and introduction to your ideas can be the best strategy.